Category: Sackville’s Memorial park

Is there anything more beautiful than love?

If we could have asked the question raised above to Mr. Daniel Lévi, residing in heaven since August 6, 2022 (may his memory be eternal), his reply would have most likely been inspired by the lyrics of his beautiful song “L’envie d’aimer”, or “the Desire to Love”, shared below.

Amale—Bambi’s paternal aunt or “Amto”, in Lebanese-Arabic—and Tanios have loved each other for decades! They are cute together, today more than ever, and their union produced two wonderful children and two precious grand-children. All their family is filled with love.

This being said, Bambi refuses to go to sleep soon without highlighting this special day before its end in Atlantic Canada; it is already “tomorrow” in Beirut. Along with the two songs featured below, Bambi who sends her warm wishes to Amale and Tanios cannot help not to wonder the following: Did Tanios express his love to his charming wife with one of his beautiful Arabic love poems?

Regardless, “mabrouk”/congratulations to Beirut’s great lovers :)! May God keep blessing their love while protecting them.

To conclude this post, many thanks to “Amto” Amale and “Amo” Tanios for who they are: a source of endless love and of inspiration to everyone, especially to Bambi who is fond of their humanity ❤️ ❤️! Louis joins her in sending them his best wishes from across the miles.

Long live the desire to love everywhere and especially in Lebanon!

As reported by the Economist, “on Tuesday envoys from Israel and Lebanon will meet in Rome for their seventh round of talks this year. In June they agreed to a ceasefire and to a deal that commits the Lebanese army to disarm Hizbullah, an Iran-backed Shia militia. In return, Israel would withdraw from land it occupies in south Lebanon. Last month Israel and Lebanon started applying the agreement in two “pilot zones”. But it may be some time before the agreement is fully implemented. Hizbullah refuses to hand over its weapons, and the Lebanese army is reluctant to confront it” (https://tinyurl.com/5uewyzpx). If you wish to watch it, below you can find a brief Euronews YouTube documentary on the new round of US-sponsored direct talks in Rome between the two neighbouring countries.

From across the miles, very far away from both the Middle East and Italy, Bambi dares to see a light of hope for a possible, even if challenging, solution to her birth country’s heart-breaking problem: Hezbollah’s continuous defiance, rejecting disarmament despite the latest local and regional fiasco, and the Israeli re-occupation of Lebanon.

Also from far away, while reading L’Orient Le jour (https://tinyurl.com/zz3nkrap), she “hears” two Lebanese men expressing themselves: Mr. Naim Quassem, Hezbollah’s current head, and Lebanon’s Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaf Salam. The first accused the Lebanese state of “serving Israel rather than Lebanon’s sovereignty” . As for the second, he courageously replied that “Hezbollah is in no position to hand out certificates of patriotism, let alone sovereignty“. In return, he accused it of “serving Israel“.

Thus, between the weapons of the Hezbollah (or any other illegal weapons) and direct diplomatic talks with Israel, Bambi prefers to see Lebanon engaged in the latter, even if she had wished that those talks didn’t happen following a devastating war. May the Lebanese state keep directly talking with all nations like a grown up, especially neighbouring ones, even if they are sadly occupying it. May peace know how to prevail in the beautiful land of the Cedars and shine, across its borders, not only to its neighbourhood, but also to the entire world.

Thanks to Italy for hosting these talks because Bambi’s birth country deserves better than endless wars, which only serve the interests of foreign entities. The Lebanese people are suffering and the Israeli innocent citizens living on the other side of the border have also suffered. Why can’t they also live in safety?

To conclude this post, and to come back to the two statements mentioned above, Lebanon deserves sovereignty to help build safety, and hopefully prosperity, for all its citizens.

According to L’Orient Today, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun “calls on the judiciary to “prove its independence and its ability to deliver justice to the victims” (https://tinyurl.com/msxvd9cn). Will the indictment be delivered soon, ideally on or close to the sixth anniversary of the Beirut port explosion?

Even if this overdue indictment is not delayed further, will justice be served? Or will it be largely unfulfilled as it was in the case of the 2005 assassination of Former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, along with MANY other innocent citizens? As a reminder, Lebanon paid approximately half of the costs of the UN-Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). The final STL indictment was rather disappointing.

Anyhow, Bambi sends her utmost respect to the people of Lebanon on the evening of the anniversary of their capital’s human-made tragedy of August 4, 2020. Love to all the families of the victims, injured people, and everyone affected by the traumatic criminal negligence.

In addition to music, this post ends with the beautiful words on X of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, which reminded us of the inspiring solidarity and unity among the Lebanese people from all regions on August 5th, 2020, that is, the next day of the Beirut port explosion. If you wish, you may read a quick English translation by Mr. Google Translate.

“I recognize the depth of the national wound that continues to bleed, and I understand the magnitude of the pain borne by the families of the martyrs and victims. Yet, on this sixth anniversary of the August 4th explosion, I reiterate: there can be no compromise at the expense of justice—even if it is sometimes delayed. Truth alone has the power to heal this profound national wound.

Let no one doubt that there is no political cover for any official—regardless of their position—whether regarding the Beirut Port explosion or any other matter; accountability will spare no one.

Amidst the tragedy of August 4th, let us also remember August 5th—the day Beirut rose up, driven by its people and by the young men and women of Lebanon who rushed from every region to clear the rubble, support one another, and restore hope to the city. May August 4th remain a day for truth, justice, and accountability, and may August 5th be a day for Beirut, for recovery, and for solidarity and unity among the Lebanese people“.

—

Ten days ahead of the 6th anniversary of the surrealistic Beirut blast: Will judge Bitar issue his indictment soon?

According to the New Brunswick (NB) government website (https://tinyurl.com/2x7nsefm), “New Brunswick Day is an opportunity to celebrate the province’s history, culture and people, with activities for residents and visitors of all ages“.

Although no country or no place is perfect, Bambi considers herself blessed for living in NB (for 18 years out of 36 in Canada); perhaps the most significant reasons are the peaceful nature of her province, the kindness of its people, and the nearby Atlantic ocean.

For the readers of this blog who may not know it, 85% of NB is forest land. Additionally, and importantly, NB is Canada’s only officially bilingual province.

Long live our charming New Brusnwick ❤️! Vive notre beau Nouveau-Brunswick ❤️!

This brief post is a friendly wink to each soldier of the Lebanese Army. May the memory of the fallen veterans be eternal. Long live Lebanon and good luck for the future.

When Bambi was a teenager, she grew up listening to Boy George’s music (among other artists). She has always appreciated the talent of this singer.

In addition to musical talent, Boy George, now 65, seems to be gifted in standing up for his friends; rare in today’s world where people are afraid of expressing different points of views.

Boy George has an opinion with regard to the Middle East conflict, so what? Why can’t he express it and why can’t we decide if we like or dislike his song’s music and/or lyrics?

Why can’t we hold two different opinions or mixed feelings at once? Why can’t we refuse massacres, rapes, kidnapping, and disrespect of dead human bodies while also refusing CRUEL wars where, as usual, innocent people pay the price of two belligerent entities?

Whether we call a tragedy a genocide, a genocidal war, ugly war, or just war, this does not change anything to the endless violence of the Middle East. So why not let Boy George sing, dance, and express his support to Israel, if he wishes? Other singers also have the right to sing for Palestine or for this or that country or side of a conflict.

Bambi is writing this post while Israel is occupying her birth country and she has always had the utmost respect for the suffering of the Palestinian people. She is against violence toward anyone and she is for love for all.

This being said, Boy George’s song is nice and she will share it below. If you wish to listen to it, please go ahead. If you don’t, just ignore this post. Whatever.

Yesterday, Bambi woke up to the lovely sound of a bird. This brief post is meant to share the latter with you, dear readers, in a short video shown below.

Was it a male bird call to attract a mate? If so, what a charming sound.

Was it just a practical vocalization to mark a territory? If so, what a cute way to defend one’s space. Too bad human beings do not resort to singing when they are fighting over territories.

As Bambi liked to imagine it, was this sound produced by a bird who might had simply been expressing its joy of living?

More importantly, what type of bird was it? Without having been able to see this creature and without any knowledge of birds, it was hard to tell.

Nevertheless, this cute bird made Bambi’s day and she is still under its charm even today.

To conclude this post, yesterday was great for several additional reasons, including wonderful moments spent with a friend in nature. What a blessing for Bambi.

Long live Sackville’s birds, trees, and friendly people.

Long live the summer season!

From an informative article by Ms. Danielle Greyman-Kennard, published in the Jerusalem Post on July 13, 2026 (https://tinyurl.com/4kfz4a2r), Bambi learned that Dr. Sharona Ross, a Florida-based advanced foregut and hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgeon was supposed to give an online talk at the Lebanese Society of General Surgery’s 27th annual Spring Conference earlier in July. However, after complaints, she was disinvited from remote appearance at this medical conference. Guess why? Because she completed her two-year mandatory service with Israel defense forces (IDF) before migrating to the USA.

As explained by Ms. Greyman-Kennard, “under Lebanese law, it is illegal for Lebanese individuals to communicate or have contact with Israelis under the 1955 Anti-Israel Boycott Law and the Lebanese Penal Code. This law is applicable to contact with Israelis who hold a second nationality” (https://tinyurl.com/4kfz4a2r).

Is there anything more sad and absurd than such a cancellation in a country facing a severe shortage of specialists like Dr. Ross, given all the concurrent tough circumstances in Lebanon (e.g., financial crash, coronavirus pandemic, Beirut explosion, wars, etc.)?

Why are we allowing politics, and blind applications of old laws that deserve to be repealed soon, to limit the surgical HPB research and practice in the Land of the Cedars? How would this sad and uncivilized disinvitation solve Lebanon’s war-related problems with Israel? How would it contribute to bring more scientific prosperity to it? Does it really matter in which birth country this Florida-based speaker was born? How would this be relevant to her presentation? What did Lebanon gain by preventing attendees from benefiting from her 20+ years of medical experience?

According to India Today, as shown below, Mr. Khameini Jr. has declared that Lebanon’s Hezbollah is a “strategic mandate” of his country.

From whatever location you may be reading this post dear readers, please take a moment to pause and think of the following: Imagine that this individual is allowing himself to talk on behalf of your own country (or birth country); not of Lebanon specifically. Do you find his comment to be acceptable?

Imagine that this individual’s regime has been funding a militia composed of your own fellow citizens (i.e., not the members of your country’s army). Perhaps also imagine it funding the construction of tunnels, under your own houses, possibly also near some touristic sites of your beloved country? Imagine also this regime ordering the militia group in question to start wars with neighbouring countries primarily to “strategically” serve its interests? This may take the form of sending missiles across borders or with other military actions here or there. How would you find this reality?

Regardless of your answers, this is the sad reality that Lebanon has been enduring for decades. To this, there is now the harsh Israeli military response and re-occupation. In addition to massive destruction, there are HIGH war-related mortality and morbidity rates. All this suffering and endless grief of the Lebanese people, for what or for whom?

Torn among all the powerful regional forces, Lebanon is struggling hard to survive. Will it finally succeed in becoming truly free to decide its own fate?

May the tiny yet beautiful Land of the Cedars succeed in defending its interests while eventually having more respectful, and ideally harmonious, diplomatic relationships with all the nations, in its neighbourhood and far away; of course, these nations include both Iran and the USA.

May war end soon in the entire Middle East, and especially in Lebanon. May safety, healing, reason, peace, prosperity, and love know how to prevail. It is about time.

On August 4th 2026, Beirut will remember its catastrophic double port explosion of about 2,750 tons of poorly stored ammonium nitrate.

As as a reminder, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Beirut port blast resulted in the following: 228+ victims, 7000+ injured residents (some of whom were toddlers; others, including parents, are still in a coma), 800 regular floor admissions as well as 130 intensive care unit admissions, 300,000 instant homeless people, 150+ permanent disabilities, massive city destruction, total destruction of four hospitals, and US$15 billion worth of damage.

Four months ago, Judge Tarek Bitar concluded his investigation and referred its long file to the public prosecutor (https://tinyurl.com/3eykxynw). As reported by Mr. Claude Assaf in L’Orient Today on March 30, 2026, “more than five years after launching the investigation in February 2021 into the deadly explosion at the Beirut Port (Aug. 4, 2020), Investigating Judge Tarek Bitar, attached to the Court of Justice, has finally concluded his inquiries.This comes at the end of a long and arduous process, marked by legal appeals filed by political figures implicated in the case, obstruction by the courts tasked with reviewing these appeals, and legal action brought against Bitar by the former prosecutor of the Court of Cassation, Ghassan Oueidat, who is also implicated” (https://tinyurl.com/nhju2t6c).

There are only ten days left before the sixth anniversary of Beirut port’s criminal negligence, is the file back to Judge Bitar by now? If so, will he issue his indictment sometime soon?

Whether justice will be served or (likely) not, as argued in older posts, Judge Bitar is a peace HERO. Bravo for his inspiring courage and uplifting independence.

As for the families of the innocent victims, Bambi sends them her heart. May the memory of all their loved ones be eternal.